From the Content Marketing Expert: Slow Content Is Here

From the Content Marketing Expert:Slow Content Is Here

What is "Slow Content"? It’s the key to getting new clients. A lot of you might feel overwhelmed by how much content you think you need to produce just to move the needle and get new clients. The good news is that the “Slow Content” movement has arrived.

What does this even mean? It means now is the time to make less, make it better, and distribute more. (Cue the sound of busy designers and real estate mavens rejoicing everywhere.)

According to a recent study by the American Marketing Association, over the past 5 years, marketers increased their content publishing by 80% only to see engagement decline by 89%.

Whoa.

Also, studies show that content creators who spend longer on what they’re making see stronger results. In other words, thoughtful, cared-for storytelling is in (again). The data tells us so.

Slow things down to generate content that is useful for your audience.

What Does “Slow Content” Look Like in Practice?

Marketing celeb Gary Vaynerchuk refers to it as “pillar” content - a larger, central piece of well-thought-out content, from which you can create smaller bits and social media adaptations, distributing them widely and for a longer period of time.

We like to call it "foundational” content — a video, an industry trends deck, a podcast, an event recap — which can be used for weeks or even months in service of driving new client leads for you.

Slow Content is especially effective for an elevated product or service that requires a higher touch sales process (i.e. not a price-driven commodity). And Slow Content works amazingly well when there is an offline event to lead up to.

Using Slow Content and Paid Advertising for Lead Generation

To make Slow Content work you’ll need to blend great storytelling with paid social advertising (FB, Linkedin, IG) to build “warm audiences” for a while before you make your ask.

In other words, it’s no longer effective to bombard your audience with cold ads or a blizzard of content (or event invites) they never wanted to receive in the first place. In 2019 the key to running revenue-generating campaigns will be to create and maintain a relationship with your audience before “the ask” — significantly lowering your cost-per-acquisition (CPAs) in the process.

Slow Content — along with the world-class targeting tools that Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin (and others) provide — helps you do just that.

Based on your main piece of Slow Content now it’s time to deploy a short piece of video content to bring people to your blog post, landing page, event invite, or any piece of content you may have on offer.

First, post a short yet valuable video teaser (you speaking for instance) of what your main piece of content is all about to your Instagram business profile, Facebook company page, and on Linkedin — and via every other marketing channel at your disposal.

The call-to-action should be something like, “read more” and send people to your link. Then embed the Instagram or Facebook version video in your blog post — kind of like this!

Why?

1. Social ad tools can easily “retarget” any of your website visitors that arrive as a result — and send them additional offers in the future. Website visitors = a warm audience.

2. You can create a targetable audience of people who watch a certain percentage the videos you post to your FB company page or Instagram business profile.

Building an Audience By Percentage of Video Watched

Did you know that each time a user engages with videos on your Facebook company page or Instagram business profile (or Facebook Live!) whether it’s organic or paid, they become part of a “custom audience” you can target again with ads in the future?

If someone has taken the time to watch 75% or 90% of the videos you put out there, chances are that person is highly interested in your business. These are warm audiences that are probably ready to hear from you again.

This tool is available in your Facebook ad account:

Audience targeting via Facebook Live video engagement

In this Facebook Live example, private membership workspace, NeueHouse uses their talk series to generate “custom audiences” they can target with offers and event invites later.

So, To Recap

- Build and capture "warm" audiences using a great piece of “Slow Content” adapted in many different ways

- Retarget this audience using social advertising tools to drive client leads

- Deploy video to drive traffic back to your site and to create more warm audiences

- Less = More. Slow Content is the antidote to having to create tons of new content all the time

- Content is King, but distribution is the Kingdom (cred: MUL consulting)

- Slow Content wrapped around an offline event is really effective

Cared-for storytelling works. And 47% of B2B buyers consume 3-5 pieces of content prior to engaging with a salesperson (Demand Gen). These are the same consumable pieces that can be adapted from foundational content you created in the first place.

In Closing

What should all of this lead to? A connection in-person and in real life (IRL) to your clients. “URL-meets-IRL” is where the magic really happens and how deals are made. All we have to do is. Slow. It. Down.